A very rare bird whose suit of bright yellow, and olive green, is topped off by a vivid fluorescent tye-dyed face and fleshy wattle!
Meet Schlegel’s asity
Photo Courtesy of Photo Courtesy of Francesco Veronesi / CC BY 2.0
Schlegel’s asity (Philepitta schlegeli), is a species of bird in the Philepittidae family. During the breeding season, the male of this species has bright yellow plumage on his upperparts and mantle, the rest of this area being olive-green. His underparts are yellow, with olive-green tinges, the rump a dark grey. His head is black with a highly vivid, featherless, bright blue and green wattled area around each eye. His bill is black with an orange-yellow gape. His eyes are brown and his legs a shade of grey.
In contrast to the male, the female tends to resemble a non-breeding male, being more of an olive color above and white to yellow-olive, below.
Juveniles tend to resemble the female of the species.
This bird is native to Madagascar where it can currently be found in the Northern, Northwestern, and Western regions of the island nation.
The Schlegel’s asity like to frequent seasonally dry rainforested areas close to humid or sheltered areas at elevations of around 800 meters in elevation.
In its range, this bird feeds mainly on small fruits in the rainy season, but will also dine on nectar and insects during the dry season.
Breeding for Schlegel’s asity occurs between October and December when the female builds a globular woven structure suspended from a branch around 2 to 5 meters above the ground. The nest is constructed mainly of moss but sometimes includes dead leaves and spider web. Not much more is known about the breeding process.
With its habitat under huge threat from humans for grazing and firewood, this bird’s population is declining and classed as near threatened.
